Archive for August, 2009|Monthly archive page

I don’t like Nil Karaibrahimgil’s too girlish attitude much but I like this song as it bangs on my head in the internet cafe. Her summer hit.

There are 24 days to freedom. Now I am one of the closest ones to finish the service- called "tezkereciler". I am now bolder to ask for more permissions to improve my life here. The latest one was to ask a day break in every week instead every two weeks. Since I have numbered days, this was accepted. So here I am in an internet cafe, scanning my google reader stuff in a crazily fast mode. I star tens of posts to look at when I am all free. I play with facebook and reply my emails and writing this post.

With the start of Ramadan, having new officials and soldiers joined; the last 24 days will not be easy, I am sure. Because of new faces, I feel alienated. But at least my relations with the top-officials got quite better and as long as I am fine with him, there are no problems. [he even accepted a request from the local head of Ministry of Education who wanted me to have a seminar on Public Relations for the high school administrators] My latest position is to wait in a small room in the entrance gate and keep recording the visitors. Apart from Mondays when village heads visit, I don’t have much to do and I keep myself stay in that room and read as much as possible. As of now, this blog writers has read 17 books during his military service and intends to read at least 3 more before he resumes his life back in Istanbul.

[sorry for my English- I feel a bit of difficulty in writing nowadays]

In the mean time, a substantive report on the Ergenekon trial spreads around. Let me have it here, too.

But of course a grander development is government’s plan on Kurdish rights! I could follow the details and I am sure there may not emerge a concrete policy about what to do. But discursively this is a huge step forward and I appreciate the move. In the political scene, CHP and MHP cannot be more than reactionary political parties. Reactionary in the sense that they do not provide any policies but only reacts to ever-creative AKP politics. I do not also claim that every "creative" AKP move is really productive; but AKP continues to determine the terms of debate in the Turkish politics. I only wish for the best for all parties… [have a look at Turkey’s 36 Languages in the mean time. Prof. White’s blog keeps offering a good round up on Turkish politics while I am away (!)]

The program I used to work as a TA launches an MA program. I was informed that I will also be teaching there as an Assistant Professor at Spring 2010 semester in addition to my full time position at Public Relations. This newspaper ad only includes Professors. A newly launched website here with an English page. I expect the site will be developed soon…

1,5 months left. Another bi-weekly break ends in a hurry. No time left of after replying mails and playing with Facebook. It just goes smoothly. One day I am in charge of tea-service, one day of entrance gate, another day soldiers’ canteen…

Hopefully, Erkan’s Field Diary will be relaunched with some design novelties in less than 2 months! I rely on Can for technicalities. Now, I am gone.